La Tien Banyan Tree and La Tien Temple

La Tien Banyan and La Tien temple locates at Nguyen Hoa commune, Phu Cu district, Hung Yen province. This is the place to commemorate 1.145 soldiers and revolutionaries who were tortured and executed by the French from 1949 to 1954. La Tien banyan tree witnessed our citizens’ sacrifice and recorded the cruel crime of French colonist; it became a symbol of resilience of Hung Yen people.

During the resistance war against French colonialists, La Tien is a strategically important military location. It was the central area where the revolutionary movement flourished. Therefore, the French had set up a post in La Tien in 1949 to stamp out the Vietnamese people’s resistance in the region. This was the most important post in the 72 French colonial posts in Hung Yen.
La Tien post was built on the bones and blood of Hung Yen people and the surrounding area. During the period of 1949 -1954, the French colonialists in La Tien post killed 1,145 Vietnamese revolutionaries and patriots. However, their brutality failed to suppress the local people’s patriotism. On the contrary, the brutality fanned the flames of hatred against the French colonialists and heightened the unyielding spirit of the Vietnamese people.
Despite the brutality of the French troops at La Tien post, the local forces and regular troops of Vietnam carried out an attack and destroyed the post in January 1954. The victory contributed significantly to the final victory of the resistance war against the French colonialists because it wore out the French troops strength in the whole Tonkin theater.
The event highlighted the sacrifice of female guerrilla leader Vũ Thị Kính, who has code name as Trần Thị Khang, then secretary of the Phù Cừ District Women’s Union for National Salvation, and leader of the Hoàng Ngân Female Guerrilla Squad. On June 8, 1950, Khang was caught by French troops. They tortured her for five days until she died, but failed to get any information from her. Her body was thrown into the Luộc River. She was just 21 then.
The total area of La Tien Banyan Tree and La Tien Temple is over 3.000 m2. It consists of La Tien temple, the Stele of Hatred and the ancient banyan. The 200-year- banyan has become a historical witness of the pain and sacrifice of our troops and people.
The stele of hatred was built in 1956, on the background of La Tien post. It remarks the great merits of heroic martyrs, comrades, compatriots who bravely sacrificed for the independence, freedom and happiness of the country. Moreover, the stele describes the savagery of the French colonialists and the henchmen. This relic was largely upgraded in 2008 and 2009. La Tien temple was built and inaugurated in 2010. This temple worships the tutelary god of the village, heroic martyrs, comrades, compatriots who were killed in the war.
It can be said that La Tien banyan and La Tien temple has become a meaningful destination to educate the patriotic traditions for generations today and tomorrow.